Heroes of Gaia exclusive interview

Heroes of Gaia is a free browser MMO that has a strong community and a bright future. With the expansion Rise of the Guilds arrives the Guild Battle System and other interesting features. Free MMO Station spoke with Mark Hill, the PR and Community Manager for Snail Games USA.

Can you introduce yourself and your role in Heroes of Gaia?

My name us Mark Hill, and I am the PR and Community Manager for Snail Games USA. I interact with the players, announce news, run game events, as well as provide information to the developers based off of community feedback. We have a large and dedicated playerbase, and they often provide us with extremely valuable insight on things that they would like to see in the game.

I am also the PR Manager, meaning I serve as the liaison between Snail Games USA and the press, including video game centric websites, blogs, fansites, and more.

Please give us a small introduction on Snail Games.

Snail Games USA is the US subsidiary for Suzhou Electronic Company, Ltd., one of China’s top video game developers. The US office was established in late 2009 in order to meet the demanding needs of our expanding North American player base.

Why did you choose to create a fantasy browser MMO? What sets Heroes of Gaia apart from other games in the same genre?

We created Heroes of Gaia in order to meet the demands of gamers that don’t want to be forced into paying a monthly premium for high quality games, and want to be able to play no matter where they are. Because Heroes of Gaia requires no downloads and can be played with nothing more than a computer with an internet connection and Flash, gamers that want to play a large, high quality fantasy MMO will be able to easily play from home, work, or school.

What sets HoG apart from other games in the same genre is first and foremost the graphics. It is the best looking no-download, free-to-play game available right now. Also, we regularly add new content to the game that pushes it further as one of the deepest and most content-rich F2P games on the market.

How many factions are in the game? Which one is your favorite and why?

There are four races in the game, and each one come with their own individual strengths and weaknesses. Human, Elf, Orc, and Undead. I personally play as the Undead (mostly for the cool art and troops), but everyone has their own preference.

Heroes of Gaia recently topped 1 million active players. What is the next goal for the game?

We are always trying to push Heroes of Gaia forward and take it to the next level. Hitting 1 million active users was a great accomplishment for the game the company, but we won’t be happy until we HoG is the #1 free-to-play, browser MMO available.

You just launched the first expansion, Rise of the Guilds. What are the novelties, and is Guild-versus-Guild the main feature?

Rise of the Guilds is actually the third expansion for Heroes of Gaia (Babel and Blood Fort were the first two), but it has definitely added the most new content of all of them. We worked extremely hard to get the expansion out, and it was great to be able to give the community something that they had been waiting on for so long.

Although we emphasize the Guild vs Guild combat aspect of the Rise of the Guilds expansion, it is up to the individual player to decide what the main feature is. Some people love the GvG combat, others may not be so much in to Guild play, and they love the new higher-level NPCs that they can battle and get better loot. There was so much content added to the expansion that everybody will find something new to love.

What does the future hold for Snail Games?

It is a very busy and exciting time at the Snail Games USA HQ. The Rise of the Guilds expansion, a community that grows larger every day, and a line of awesome new games in the works (including one that we will be announcing soon) has the whole company excited.

We will continue to develop best-in-class F2P games and push the limits of what browser games can be.

Anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Whether you are already a Heroes of Gaia veteran or a newcomer to the game, I want to thank you for being a part of the community. We are here for the players, and without them, none of this would be possible. If you are reading this and haven’t played the game, give it a try and let us know what you think. We have a very knowledgeable and active community, and we’d love for you to be a part of it.